


Those Three Words

by louisw91



Category: One Direction
Genre: Cute, Fluff, M/M, No smut this time sorry, SO, and this is what i came up with, enjoy i guess, honestly its cheesy, i wanted to write something short and cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 15:57:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19088287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/louisw91/pseuds/louisw91
Summary: Love is an amazing yet terrifying feeling. And Louis doesn't know how to handle it when Harry says it first.





	Those Three Words

**Author's Note:**

> hi i wrote this in a couple of hours and its 2 am and it's cheesy af but it's cute and i'm just trying to get back into the habit of writing so enjoy

“I love you.”

Louis blinked before looking up from his book. Any other time, conversation would be just a dull background noise when he was engrossed in his reading. But this time, those words cut through the silence like a sharp piece of glass, shattering the quiet around him. They aren’t ones you can easily block out and ignore and…

_What?_

Harry stared back at him from across the room, a blanket curled around his shoulders as he huddled into it to keep the cold from touching his skin. Louis could see his bare feet poking out from the bottom of the blanket as he stood on the very last step on the staircase. He looked like he just woke up; brown, curly hair messy and wild on top of his head, strands going every which way. Green eyes disappeared every second behind droopy, blinking eyelids. And sure enough, Harry brought his blanket covered fist up to cover his mouth as he yawned.

It had to be past midnight now, and Louis had gotten carried away by a new book he picked up yesterday from the bookshop in town. He was currently curled at one end of the couch, his feet tucked under him, and his book propped on the arm of the chair. The lamp beside him was the only light in the entire living room that was on, illuminating a soft orange-y glow.

“Did you hear me?” Harry said after a few more moments of silence, and Louis just continued to stare at the man because…

_How the fuck do you respond to that?_

This was the first time Harry had ever spoken those words to him, and in the middle of the night of all times? How did he respond to this?

“Why are you awake?” was the only thing that Louis could manage to get out.

Harry shuffled down the last step, walked across the span of the living room, and took a seat next to Louis on the couch, generously sharing half of his blanket as he draped it across Louis’ lap. He looked soft like this. He looked soft and warm in the orange glow from the shitty little table lamp.

Harry took in a deep breath as he leaned his head against Louis’ shoulder. “Don’t know. Had a dream, woke up, and the first thing I thought about was you.”

Louis slowly closed his book and set it on the side table before wrapping his arms around Harry’s shoulders, bringing the man in closer. He pressed a small kiss to Harry’s forehead before leaning his head back against the couch. “What was the dream about?”

“I don’t really remember,” Harry replied quietly, resting a hand on Louis’ stomach. “I just know you were in it. Then, I woke up and thought about you, and how much you mean to me, and how much I love you.”

There was another few moments of silence between them as Louis stared up at the ceiling. There were so many times he had thought about telling Harry that he loved him, that he would do anything – _anything_ – for him. There were so many nights where Louis would stay up, pacing the kitchen as Harry slept upstairs, thinking about the right words to say to him when he woke up. So many close moments where he almost said _fuck it_ and said it.

Like the time they were at dinner with their families. Once a month, the Tomlinson family and the Styles family got together for dinner. It was a little tradition they had picked up on a couple months after Louis and Harry started dating. Harry would cook a big dinner at his mum’s house (Louis would ‘help’ by tasting as he cooked, and Harry didn’t mind) and everyone would come over to just sit at the big, oak dining room table and eat Harry’s meal.

Harry loved this kind of thing. The big family, everyone chatting and catching up, playing with Louis’ younger siblings when everyone was full and had moved to the large living room. All the adults would sit amongst the couches and recliners, glasses of wine in their hands, and they’d continue their conversations.

Except Harry.

Instead of sitting with everyone else, Harry would be off to the side playing with Louis’ youngest siblings and his little niece. The twins, Louis’ siblings, would often bring over a bag filled with tiaras, boas, and a fake tea set. Harry would sit with them and watch as they set it all up, with a few stuffed animals as company, and proudly wear the bright blue, feathery boa and a plastic tiara that had a few rhinestones missing. In Harry’s lap sat his niece, Gemma’s daughter, with a tiara that sat crooked on her small head, and a little plastic wand that used to light up, but the batteries ran out years ago.

All of this he did without question each time. It was like clockwork for him. As soon as the dishes were cleaned and put away, leftovers were put into small containers for each family member to take with them, and the counters were wiped clean, the boa and tiara went on. It gave Louis’ mum and Gemma some time to relax without having to worry where their youngest children were.

Louis watched every time. He never kept up with the conversation that was going on around him. No, instead, he watched as Harry would carefully clink a little, off-white, plastic teacup that looked so tiny compared to his hand against one of his sister’s teacups. He watched as Harry would wait patiently as one of the twins poured imaginary tea into the tiny cup. A small smile would come to his lips when he’d tap his cup against his niece’s cup, then gently tickle her cheek with one end of the feathery boa.

In that moment, Louis wanted to just scream about how much he loved Harry Styles. He wanted to just stand up, tell everyone in the room to shut the fuck up (politely, of course), and announce that he was so in love with this kindhearted, generous, beautiful man.

There were also times when it was just the two of them, kind of like now, lounging around, watching a movie or catching up on a show, sharing the same tub of ice cream. Sometimes, they’d just turn the television on for noise as they chatted about their days. They’d be tangled up in each other under a blanket, sharing soft kisses every now and then, smiling at each other.

Louis would have to catch himself before he said anything to Harry. There would just be those times where they looked at each other and said nothing, just enjoying each other’s company. They’d watch each other, smile, sometimes just giggle randomly. And Louis loved every moment of it. He loved Harry. There were times he nearly broke that silence and just said it; just told Harry how he loved him from the moment they met because love at first sight _does_ exist. He wanted to tell Harry that he was it. Harry was it and he was all Louis needed and all Louis wanted in life.

Those times scared him, though. Each time he wanted to tell Harry, it scared him, and so he never said it.

Love is terrifying. Hell, Louis didn’t even think love even _existed_ until Harry came along. Every other relationship Louis had been in went to shit. His mum and dad broke up before he was born, and he watched his mother and stepfather fall apart when he got older. He watched his sister and her boyfriend of nearly six years fall apart. Eventually, he gave up on the idea of love.

But now, he has found love.

And Louis is fucking terrified.

The last thing he wants is to lose Harry. All those nights he’s stayed up pacing in the kitchen while a cold cup of tea sits on the counter, forgotten. All those times he’s looked at Harry and just wanted to say it. In every moment that he has even _spent_ with Harry. Louis has always chosen _not_ to tell Harry how much he loves him. Because he’s scared that once Harry knows, he won’t stick around.

But then there’s now.

_Now._ Right in this moment, the man he has been so terrified to confess his love to, has now done what Louis thought was impossible. He has said those three words. Those three fucking words that he has been so scared of saying. Harry has just said it like they were the easiest three words of his life. And not only has he said it, but he’s said it _twice_ in the span of just a few minutes. Just a few minutes ago, Harry was sound asleep, and now… _Now,_ he’s leaned up against Louis, waiting for him to respond to a confession he’s said _twice_.

“Lou,” Harry mumbled, tilting his head a bit so he could press a small kiss to Louis’ neck, “did you fall asleep on me?”

“No,” Louis said quietly. He took in a deep breath and lifted his head up before looking down at Harry. “Not asleep. Don’t think I’ll sleep tonight.”

“You haven’t been sleeping very well lately.”

_Because I want to tell you so badly that it keeps me up at night,_ is what Louis wanted to say. Instead, “Yeah, don’t know why. Think it’s our mattress. Lumpy mess.”

Harry blew out a small laugh and closed his eyes. “We’ll look into getting a new one. It is getting a little old.”

Again, silence.

Louis didn’t know what to say. They had moved on from the three words now, and he wasn’t sure what to do now. Did he say it back? Did he just leave it until Harry brought it up again?

A few minutes passed before Harry lifted his head and sat up, stretching his arms over his head. His back popped a couple times and Louis cringed a little. “Seems like that mattress is getting to you, too.”

“A little. Not bad, though.” Louis watched Harry rake a hand through the mess of curls, combing them out a bit before turning to look at Louis again with a tired smile on his face. “You know you look terrified right now?” Louis felt like all the blood in his body went straight up his neck and pooled into his cheeks. “What are you scared of?”

_Everything._ “I’m not scared,” Louis said, though his voice was a tad wobbly. He cleared his throat and shook his head. “I’m not scared of anything.”

“Oh, yeah?” Harry grinned a little wider. “Then how come when I told you that I loved you, you changed the subject or went silent?” Louis just sat there with his mouth open a little, trying to form words, anything, to say to Harry, but nothing came out. “I don’t expect you to say it back, you know. I’ve been wanting to say it for a while. I’m fine with waiting.”

“How do we know we’re going to last?”

It wasn’t the _worst_ thing Louis could have said, but it definitely wasn’t the right thing to say in that time, considering the smile Harry had on his face had disappeared instantly. “What?” he said quietly, his brow furrowing together. “What do you mean? Do you think we won’t last?”

“I- No- That’s not-” Louis let out a frustrating sigh and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I do think we’ll last. I want us to. God, I _really_ want us to last.”

“Then what’s the issue here? Why would you ask me that?”

The tone of Harry’s voice had suddenly gotten slightly defensive, and Louis knew he had to act fast before this conversation turned out any worse. “It’s just… I mean, it seems like any time _love_ is brought into the picture, things go to shit. My mum and dad loved each other, but it wasn’t enough to keep them together. The same with her and my stepdad. And literally everyone around me. Love didn’t keep people together, even when it seemed like they’d be together forever, you know?” Louis sighed and shook his head, “It’s stupid, I’m sorry. I-”

“It’s not stupid,” Harry said softly, cutting Louis off. “I can understand that, really. I thought the same because of my mum and dad. They didn’t work out. My earliest memories of them together is just them fighting constantly. It just seemed like that’s all they did. Then, they split up. I felt that way too growing up. My mum and dad were just unhappy. If your parents can’t even stay together, then you have your doubts.”

Harry rested back against the couch as he continued. “But then, my mum found my stepdad. They dated for a while, even broke up once because of a stupid argument they had. It was only for a day, though, because they worked it out. They knew that an argument that could be easily fixed wasn’t worth their relationship. They still made each other happy. They loved each other. And seeing them happy together gave me a little hope.” Harry took Louis’ hand in his own. “Then, I found you, and I knew love was real.”

Louis gave Harry’s hand a small squeeze. “I just… Harry, you’re the one person I _never_ want to lose. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

“You’ll never have a chance to find out. You’re stuck with me.” Louis grinned as Harry pressed a kiss to the back of his hand. “And listen, you don’t have to say it-”

“I love you.” Harry’s face could have possibly split with how wide his smile was. “I love you. I’ve been wanting to say it since the day we met, which is crazy. But I love you. I have loved you for so long. I’m sorry I didn’t say it first. I could have. I _should_ have. I didn’t, though. But I’m saying it now. I love you, Harry Styles.”

The two never made it back to bed. Instead, they fell asleep, tangled in each other, kissing, laughing, and saying ‘I love you’ over and over until they drifted off. And what an amazing feeling it was to have those once scary three words be the last Louis heard, and the man he loved the last person he saw before he fell asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr! https://lwtghosts.tumblr.com/


End file.
